Deliciously fluffy and tender, these Sirniki are pancakes made with farmer's cheese and perfect for breakfast or dessert. Top with fresh fruit, jam, or sweetened sour cream for an amazing combination.
Sirniki are a beloved staple in the Slavic kitchen, cherished by generations for their simple yet irresistible flavor. These pancakes, made with farmer's cheese, are the perfect balance of crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. When you take a bite, the golden-brown crust offers a delightful browned butter flavor, while the soft, tender center is just pure comfort. It’s no wonder these little bites have stood the test of time—they’re not only delicious but also a great example of how simple ingredients can come together to create something magical.
What I absolutely love about Sirniki is how versatile they are. They make the most wonderful breakfast to kickstart your day or can easily be served as a delightful dessert. You can enjoy them with a variety of toppings, depending on what you’re in the mood for. Fresh fruit brings a light, refreshing contrast to the richness of the pancakes, while a dollop of jam adds a sweet and fruity layer. But my personal favorite is to pair them with sour cream. You can go the classic route with plain sour cream for a tangy, creamy finish or sweeten it up with a touch of sugar, maple syrup, or honey for a healthier twist. A splash of vanilla in the sweetened sour cream adds a fragrant touch that takes this treat to the next level.
There’s something truly magical about how just a few humble ingredients—farmer’s cheese, eggs, flour, and a bit of sugar—can come together to create such a comforting, delicious dish. Whether you’re making them for breakfast, dessert, or just a special treat, these Sirniki are bound to become a favorite in your kitchen.
Ingredients:
14-15 oz farmer's cheese (2-2 ½ cups)
2 eggs
¼ - ⅓ cup sugar
2 Tablespoon sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla
½ cup flour, plus ½ cup more for dredging the Sirniki
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
⅓-1/2 cup raisins, optional
butter or oil for pan frying the Sirniki
How To Make Sirniki
Place the farmer's cheese into a food processor, along with the eggs, sugar, sour cream and vanilla. You can also use ricotta or cottage cheese instead of the farmer's cheese, just make sure to drain all the excess liquid and maybe even squeeze it out with a cheesecloth.
Pulse about 10 times until it's well combined. 
In a small bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt and then add the dry ingredients to the food processor. 
Pulse a few more times to combine. Add the raisins and mix them in with a spoon or spatula.
You can hand mix the Sirniki batter very easily, but you will first have to break up the farmer's cheese with a fork until the texture is even and fine. Proceed by adding the rest of the ingredients. It's much simpler for me to use the food processor, but the advantage of mixing the batter by hand is that it will be slightly stiffer and easier to handle. The batter made in the food processor needs to be handled quite delicately, but I have a trick for that too.
Heat 1 Tablespoon of of butter or oil in a nonstick skillet on medium low heat. Make sure that the oil is hot enough before adding the Sirniki, otherwise they will soak up the oil and be very greasy.
Place the remaining ½ cup flour into a shallow plate. I use a handy scoop to portion out this very delicate batter. It makes it MUCH easier to handle. 
Dredge each Sirnik in flour, shaping each into a round patty. 
You want to dredge the Sirniki and place them immediately into the skillet. Cook the Sirniki on medium low heat until they are golden on both sides. 
Serve warm with sour cream, jam, fruit, condensed milk or honey.
Sirniki (Farmer's Cheese Pancakes)
Ingredients
- 14-15 oz farmer's cheese 2-2 ½ cups
- 2 eggs
- ¼ - ⅓ cup sugar
- 2 Tablespoon sour cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- ½ cup flour plus ½ cup more for dredging the Sirniki
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅓-1/2 cup raisins optional
- butter or oil for pan frying the Sirniki
Instructions
- Place the farmer's cheese into a food processor and pulse about 10 times until it's very fine. You can also use ricotta or cottage cheese instead of the farmer's cheese, just make sure to drain all the excess liquid and maybe even squeeze it out with a cheesecloth.
- Add the eggs, sugar, sour cream and vanilla. Pulse a few more times to combine.
- In a small bowl, mix ½ cup flour, baking powder and salt and then add the dry ingredients to the food processor. Pulse a few more times to combine.
- Add the raisins and mix them in with a spoon or spatula.
- Heat 1 Tablespoon of of butter or oil in a nonstick skillet on medium low heat. Make sure that the oil is hot enough before adding the Sirniki, otherwise they will soak up the oil and be very greasy.
- Place the remaining ½ cup flour into a shallow plate. I use a handy scoop to portion out this very delicate batter. It makes it MUCH easier to handle.
- Dredge each Sirnik in flour. You want to dredge the Sirniki and place them immediately into the skillet.
- Cook the Sirniki on medium low heat until they are golden on both sides.
- Serve warm with sour cream, jam, fruit, condensed milk or honey.
Notes
Hey all! Anyone try this with gluten free flour?
They turned out perfectly! I don't have an ice cream scoop either but I used two big spoons and it worked out. Thank you!
That's awesome, Autumn! I'm always thrilled to hear feedback and see that others are enjoying our family favorite recipes too.
They are amazing, they are very tasty, they are delicious! And they are very very runny. I drained the cheese to a sandy consistency. Still ended up adding around 1/2 to 3/4 cup of flour. Didn't bother with dredging them in flour, just dropped them from a round teaspoon in the skillet. My kids demolished them in a matter of minutes. I'll be making them again, but they are not something I'll make in a hurry. Still having said all that, you've done an amazing job, Olga. As always!
Thank you, Anna!
You're right that they can be runny. I find that especially when the cheese is not dry enough. I'm so glad you and your family enjoy them.
Hi
I made these tonight. I made my own farmer’s cheese using natasha’s Kitchen recipe. But ended up eating all of it because it was soo yummy. I bought farmer’s cheese from the Russian grocery and use it. Are they suppose to be “egg-y”, “spongelike”, after you cook them? Or should I have added more flour to stiffen them?
Thanks.
If you want them to be more dense, use only 1 egg and more flour. I prefer when they have a more tender texture, but you can most certainly play around with the recipe to get a result that you are looking for, Dawn. It also depends on how "wet" or "dry" the farmer's cheese is that you are using. Normally, I strain mine really well through a cheesecloth, so it is very dry. If the farmer's cheese has a softer texture, the Siraiki will be softer too.
I make sirinki every week using your recipe. Thank you!
I'm so happy to hear that, Marina! Thank you for taking the time to write.
Tried these yesterday. I had left over mixed tvorog with sour cream and sugar that my kids decided they don't really like anymore..meh..and like many others I'm like that person who can never get sirniki right. I used your recipe minus one egg(it seemed too liquidy) and you weren't kidding, these are DELICATE, but they stayed together after carefully dredged in flour. Looked exactly like yours. We accidentally ate them all and left 2 bitten ones for my son who was napping. Whoops.
Thank you for a great recipe! Loving your blog and will be trying many more recipes of yours. You have a very beautiful big family. God bless you!
I'm so happy to hear that you enjoyed the Siraiki, Ksusha:). Thank you for taking the time to write.
Olga, I do not add flour and baking powder into the batter. Instead, I use Manka, 2 Tsp. Syrniki turn out to be big, fat and soft.
Omg wow these sirniki look really way yummmm and tantalizing might wanna do a fry up on Sunday since (unfortunately lol I can't cook tomorrow the Sabbath forbids it ) but wow these are similar to how I made em last on Chanukah long while ago been craving cheese patties for awhile now mmmmmm good have a gr8 weekend darlin cheers
I hope you enjoy them, Tzivia.
Awwww thanx olya darlin ur recipes r da bomb babe have a very happy memorial day weekend g-d bless America
Hi! How are sirniki the next day? I was hoping to make these the night before a family get together
I think they're great. You can reheat them, but I like them cold too.
Loved this recipe. Used to do mine by memory from long time ago and they were not as tasteful as yours. The only thing I omitted this time is the last step-coating with flour (to cut down on flour). Just spooned them on the pan: they were not as perfect from the outside but the shape was still great and they tasted excellent! Thank you for the blog and wonderful recipes.
You're welcome, Alla! Thanks for taking the time to write.
hi Olga again, i come to your blog often. Every time i need to cook something new, i check with your blog first 🙂 You are my trusted source. Today i made this sirniki using food processor and farmer's cheese came out perfect, just like grandmas did in Ukraine. I did them before with cottage cheese and dough was too watery (didn't do good job on draining i guess.) Farmer's cheese works perfect. Thank you sharing your step by step recipes.
Hi Helen! I'm happy to hear that you were successful with this recipe. We love Sirniki in our family:).
I'm glad the step by step recipes are helpful to you.
Олечка, скажи мне пожалуйста какой food processor ты используешь чтобы сделать тесто?
Valentina, I have the Kitchen Aid food processor. You can check it out in my Shop in the Kitchen Appliances category.
Thank you sooo much for your awesome recipe! 🙂 Made these last night and first time I actually made eatable sirniki. I've tried so many different recipes and they failed every time! But these turned out perfect and soo delicious
And I used a whisk to mix the ingredients because I don't have a food processor 🙂 and it still worked
That's awesome, Tatyana. I am so happy to hear that:).
The PERFECT siniki ever! My twins ate all of them and asked me: 'Esheo mama( in russian)!' Thank you , Olga!
Now that's a compliment! I'm thrilled to hear that. Thanks for taking the time to let me know, Ala.
Oh, Olga, made these tonight and they turned out perfect! I only have a mini food-processor, so I processed in batches, but you're totally right on consistency, I just loved how smooth it made the farmer's cheese. Then I mixed everything in the KitchenAid, worked really well. Thanks for the tip on using the portion scoop, it worked really well, and I loved how they were all the exact same size. 🙂 My mom made Sirniki growing up, but my Polish husband never had these (in fact, Sirnik in Polish translates to like a cheesecake!), but he really enjoyed these, as did my 3 kids. Thank you for a great recipe!
Hi Julia,
I'm so happy to hear that you enjoyed the Sirniki.
They are a favorite in our family.